Matt Bryan grabbed a program from a guy to double-check the numbers before Saturday's $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds. He thought his horse was the No. 8 but couldn't believe that Ive Struck a Nerve was 99-1 on the toteboard.

"I said, 'Are you kidding me?" Bryan said. "No respect.'"

In fact, Ive Struck a Nerve, a well-beaten fourth in the Jan. 19 Lecomte, wasn't 99-1. He would go off at 135-1. But hoping for a top four finish, Bryan and trainer Keith Desormeaux got far better as Ive Struck a Nerve nudged past Code West in the final foot for a nose victory.

Now, from the modeling that Churchill Downs did in developing its new points system for determining who gets in the Kentucky Derby field, it won't matter where Ive Struck a Nerve finishes in the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 30. His 50 points for winning the Risen Star virtually guarantees a spot in the May 4 Triple Crown kickoff.

"That's the dream of anybody in this game," said Bryan, CEO of MG Bryan Equipment and MW Bryan Equipment Rental in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. "Someone asked me how many people have been in the Derby. If you just do 139 times 20 horses, it's less than 2,800 horses. That's something really special and unique."

Desormeaux, the older brother of three-time Derby-winning jockey Kent Desormeaux, and Bryan have both attended the Derby but never as a participant.

Bryan first got intrigued by the sport as a kid watching Seattle Slew sweep the 1977 Triple Crown on TV. He became a regular at Remington Park while attending the University of Oklahoma.

Two years ago he bought into a couple of horses with the Don't Tell My Wife syndicate, meeting Keith Desormeaux. Bryan was so impressed with his old-school ways that he had the trainer buy him two horses at an Ocala auction, with $82,000 purchase Ive Struck a Nerve his first 2-year-old.

The colt was nameless when Bryan said he was entertaining a friend at his home.

"I was giving him a hard time about something," he recalled. "Finally I let up on him, but I said, 'Man, I've really struck a nerve.' My wife was sitting at the kitchen table, helping the kids with homework, and she said, 'That's the name of the horse right there.' "

Ive Struck a Nerve needed seven starts to win a race. But that 0-fer start included a nose defeat at Del Mar that encouraged his camp to run him in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity, in which he finished ninth. He finished fourth in the $200,000 Jean Lafitte at Delta Downs before winning a maiden race, followed by a second in the six-furlong Sugar Bowl to the good sprinter Tour Guide in the race before the Lecomte.

"We always thought highly of him," Desormeaux said. "In three two-turn races, he never did get a clean trip. That's why we decided to take one more chance."

Desormeaux said his brother, who rode the colt in the Lecomte, agreed Ive Struck a Nerve is a nice horse but that he was rank, wanting to go too fast early.

"I changed some equipment on him after that race," Keith Desormeaux said. "But the main reason he was so rank is that he was coming off two sprints. The horse is coming off the pace chasing 21-and-change. And then we're putting him in a race and telling him to slow down and be off the pace going 24. It was too much for the horse to handle."

Ive Struck a Nerve was anything but rank in the Risen Star, actually coming from last after a quarter-mile behind a tepid pace. He allowed James Graham to go wherever the jockey chose, both inside and outside horses, coming on resolutely to win the photo over Code West.

"I read a couple of comments after the race: it was a weak field, my horse would never win again," Desormeaux said. "They're welcome to their opinion. But in my opinion, that was the toughest Derby prep so far. The Beyer speed figure was a 95. That's about as legitimate as it gets.

"… My horse was reserved off a fairly slow pace and still finished. That's not a fluke."

Bred by Brereton Jones and sired by his former stallion Yankee Gentleman, the former Kentucky governor was on hand to watch his horse Mark Valeski win the Mineshaft Handicap on the card.

"I joked that I appreciated him coming all the way from Lexington to see Ive Struck a Nerve run," Desormeaux said.

Jones sold Ive Struck a Nerve for $1,700 as a weanling at Keeneland's November sale. The colt was resold as a yearling for $17,000 to veteran horsewoman Summer Mayberry, who in turn sold him for the $82,000.

"What I saw in him was rock-solid conformation," Desormeaux said. "Maybe a tad turned out (in his front legs), but not enough to affect his action or his stride. He worked beautifully for the sale. He had an efficient and athletic stride. He had a good time, and he did it easily. They also have to have an innate look called the look of eagles, an innate class about them that you can't touch or feel, you can only see. He projected class."

The Risen Star was Desormeaux's biggest victory in a career dating to 1990, played out 135 miles from his roots in Lafayette, La., the heart of Cajun country.

Cajun jockeys long have made a mark on racing, including the Kentucky Derby, with Calvin Borel joining Kent as three-time winners. But you might have to go back to Gerald Romero, who teamed with his jockey and brother Randy to win the 1993 Louisiana Derby with Dixieland Heat, to find a Cajun trainer in the Kentucky Derby. (Dixieland Heat was 12th.)

Desormeaux gets only a handful of 2-year-old colts a year in his 20-horse stable. He says his total budget for purchases last year ran about $150,000.

"That's what (some) pay for half a horse on average," he said. "… I don't care the prices I paid. I left there with horses who could be competitive. I don't think I'm small-time – I've got a pretty big head. Even with $150,000, I felt like I could do anything.

"I refuse to believe it's a pipe dream," Desormeaux said of the Derby. "But I also know there's a lot of luck involved."